Nothing is more wasteful than to
see under utilization of existing resources especially for a country like India
and when it comes to resources what better resources can be than the Humans.
Suicides are common and prevalent
and most of us have known such cases from our life. Suicides mostly originate
because of the heights of despondency and lack of belief in the improvement of
the situation or guilt. A small amount of guilt is welcome as it works to check
the innate maniac attitude of us. Beyond that any guilt is not welcome for
whatever be its origin.
The more ambitious one it’s possible
that in case of being uneventful or facing a failure in a particular case, one
may take the extreme step. It's more common in societies where personal
achievement is given more importance than in societies where social achievement
is given more weightage. Suicides are common in cities and more so in
individuals in isolation.
According to a view, suicide is the
best possible remedy for the one who commit it but worse for the near ones as
the always suffer from the pangs that he could have made a difference. Delhi
Metro has recorded great no. of suicides and the impact of such events on the
psychology of fellow travellers, drivers and people at large have yet to be
explored completely.
What is disturbing about suicides
is the sheer diversity of reasons for which people commit one- it may be the
isolation for security forces from their near and dear ones, on the other hand
it may be a bad investment for some, it may be a crop failure and systematic
alienation from the existing organization or the delayed justice and subsequent
desperation for 'solution' from the pending problems, in another case it may be
a way of 'saving of resources' for others in case of terminally ill patients or
the lack of importance/ respect in case of those who are no more at the center
of affairs-old age individuals, another case may be of those, who have been
part of a system for so long, that even an improvement in the condition would
be too uncomfortable for them, expectation from peers are cause de importance
in case of students while the sheer helplessness in case of Dalit’s and loss of
social prestige or self-respect in case of rape victims, lack of opportunity or
the hopelessness may be another alienating point. Bad parenting or no vent for
the pressure is the raison- d-etre for adolescents.
I don't know what goes inside the
head of such individuals, but what they definitely forget is there importance
in a system like pixels. However small they are, they will be missed definitely
once they are gone- you may or may not notice them when they are there. Your
contribution to economy- money you create, emotional- support to family and
friends, enterprising- new initiatives which you can take and can bring change-
opportunity to do something new!
Another reason may be the lack
worthy of the goal/purpose which the Psychotherapist Viktor Frankl talks about
in his book- Men's Search for Purpose. A must read book-at least the part
dealing with concentration camp, I must say.
Need for desperate measures
The point however which usually
comes out in more than one case is that over a prolonged period, warnings are
being ignored, responsible individuals are too involved to notice even the most
obvious of symptoms and in the name of giving space they avoid all the
responsibility.
If the desperation would be the
only reason there is no doubt that many of the street roamers or those without
any assets would have committed suicide long ago but it simply don’t happens.
If people without formal education, support and namely without
any asset of worth- don't lose hope and live today to fight another day, the
recurring cases of suicides in resource-rich and talented people is an issue of
serious importance.
Economics of such steps
One would be at great pain to find
out the economic cost of suicide and the real Return on Investment on the human
resource if things wouldn't have been that bad. I believe in economics and such
desperate measures over the long period of time would have incurred huge
financial implication on the society and an economic study would reveal many
more sad truths about this unhappy fact. Such cost to nation itself would be
humongous and I believe all the preventive steps possible should be taken to
counter the same.
Indian Penal Code and its absurdity
India is a mix place- for different
people it has different meanings. It is too good when it is implementing
archaic laws and requires no mind application!
One of the such result is the
failed suicides are illegal and are a Criminal Offence under Section 309 of IPC
which is a punishable offence with an imprisonment of up to 1 year of fine as
well.
Govt has initiated a review in the
response of the PIL formed in Supreme Court in 2009 but things are still
pending. However in its present role, it affects medical aid as doctors out of
fear of prosecution hardly take initiatives in cases related with suicides and
victims and their friends and families till no end.
Some ways
A national level helpline with
dedicated team may be the first worthy step in such direction.
A series of positive efforts are
required to reduce such an unfortunate outcome. Creating an atmosphere where
individuals with not so lucky background and against many odds have registered
success should be shared and celebrated.
Study of different types of
suicides (Academic pressure, Credit or finance or self-respect) and causes and steps which can be taken to effectively mitigate the same.
